


The End of a Summer

by migaDbr



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: F/M, Romance, Some Humor, ennatsu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:26:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8158850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/migaDbr/pseuds/migaDbr
Summary: A little gift for my sis Audrey, because she's amazing and she loves EnNatsu (and so do I!). And because she asked for it, but that's not the issue here. She doesn't have an AO3 account, I think, but feel free to check her incredible art on Tumblr and Twitter! She's @AudreyKare in both places.It never had a summary, so... yeah. I didn't add one now. I might at some point. Who knows.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A little gift for my sis Audrey, because she's amazing and she loves EnNatsu (and so do I!). And because she asked for it, but that's not the issue here. She doesn't have an AO3 account, I think, but feel free to check her incredible art on Tumblr and Twitter! She's @AudreyKare in both places.  
> It never had a summary, so... yeah. I didn't add one now. I might at some point. Who knows.

Everything was finally over.

A year ago, I could have never expected my life to change so much in such a little time. Before I could realise it, my friends and I had gotten involved in a journey that none of us could have ever expected; it led to us meeting incredible people, to fighting the strongest rivals in the world—and beyond!—, and many more adventures that you all are probably sick of hearing about by now. If I had been asked during those days if I wanted all of that to ever be over, I would have said no. As scary as it was at times, I was also way too happy about having so many people around me to enjoy soccer with. Even now, I wouldn't change a thing about the amazing adventures I got to live with my teammates and friends; I cherish these memories with all of my heart, and I cherish everyone I met during the way too.

Anyway, when I look back now, I'm glad it came to an end—a boy can only undergo an amount of experiences per year, and I don't think I could have stood much more than that, ha ha!

But, to be honest, all these struggles and fights were _nothing_ compared to what I went through right before the year ended. Just a few days before a brand-new story was about to begin, I decided to give my own story one last turn. Or, rather than 'decided,' I should say that I was given a last chance to change my own path by the Goddess of Victory herself. When I think about it, summer seemed like the perfect time to do so.

To tell you guys the truth, the summer after my second year at Raimon was about as nuts as the school year had been. You have no idea how many things happened and how unrelated to soccer most of them were—unfortunately—, but I still cherish them just as much as I cherish my adventures with Gouenji, Kidou, Kazemaru and the rest. The only thing I never dug about that summer, and I still don't dig it, actually, was being called a 'legend' by everyone around me, and even by people I had never heard of. For me, the only legend here is Jii-chan, and I will only accept that name the day I become as strong as him! Seeing with my own eyes how _awesome_ he was made me realise how much I had yet to learn. And, to be honest, what happened at the end of that summer has a lot to do with him. Because if I had never met him or if by any chance I had never known that he was still alive, I might have never realised something that was just as important and, probably, much more obvious. I simply could never see it before. I was probably not even looking, honestly...

Surprisingly, I spent most of that summer training alone. I guess everyone needed a break as much as I did, but I simply couldn't leave soccer aside; I only needed some peace to enjoy it properly again, without a worry in the world. I trained that day, too, at the foot of the Steel Tower, until the evening came. As usual, I decided to give Tyre-chan a break and climbed to the top of the tower to look at the sky and enjoy the peace that that place always made me feel. If what I had been feeling lately could be called 'peace' at all.

I will never forget that sky. Have you ever seen the setting sun from a high place during the summer? It's amazing! It inspired me over and over again during that summer, and I even used it to create a new– well, that's another story. Anyway, I used to spend my time up there, just looking at the sky and thinking. From a certain moment on during that summer, though, there was but one matter I could think of. But, for some reason, I couldn't focus that day. As weird as it might sound, it was the sunset what was keeping me from doing so. That sight seemed different than usual that day somehow: for whatever reason, what used to be a bright red or orange colour turned into something even warmer and softer at the same time. It shone more than ever before, but the colour didn't seem so bright. It's...hard to explain what I felt. I have never been good with these things, either...

And while I was trying to figure out what seemed so off about that sunset, I heard it. There are many things I can't recognise; for my own sake, the sound of Tyre-chan swinging isn't one of them. I rushed to the railing of the tower and looked down so fast that I nearly fell down.

But I didn't see a thing. Quite literally. As soon as I brought my eyes to the place where Tyre-chan should have been, I was blinded by what seemed a beam of light that came straight from there. I had to avert my eyes from it right away and scrub them for a bit to be able to see at all again, as if I had looked directly at the sun.

I squatted and decided to look at that place again from between the railing, to change the angle a bit and hopefully avoid being blinded again. I held on to the bars and cautiously looked down again. The first thing I saw was Tyre-chan, gently swinging from side to side, even if it barely made a sound any more. And next to it, the main reason why I was up there, thinking day after day. Looking at the setting sun, just like me.

Coincidences don't exist—that's what Jii-chan says, and I think that, too. Everything happens for a reason, but it's up to us to decide what we do with that chance. As long as we fight with everything we've got, the Goddess of Victory will always smile upon us and bring us happiness, in and out of the field. That's the only destiny we both believe in—the destiny _we_ create with our own hands. ...Even so, I admit I hadn't been fighting much during that summer. I just... couldn't find the courage to do so. What had been bugging me was much scarier than gods, demons, ogres, aliens and super-humans, all fused together to create a huge, horrifying and dangerous, uh...thing.

But it was time I faced and fought my demons. It was time I did what I had to do. That's what Jii-chan would have wanted me to do, and what he congratulated me for once the battle was finally over. That's why, as much as I was shaking like a leaf, I forced myself to gulp—even if my mouth was as dry as Kidou's sense of humour—and crawled toward the ladder.

Coincidences don't exist, indeed. And it was not a coincidence that Jii-chan and I reunited in the end. No. Someone was given a chance to make it happen, and they took it; that someone wasn't Jii-chan nor me, though. In fact, if it were for Jii-chan, we would have never met: he had made the decision to not get involved with us any more a long time ago in order to keep us safe, and he would have kept his promise if it hadn’t been because of that person. As for me, I just... never even considered he could still be out there, somewhere. For me, he was just a spirit looking out for me from above, giving me his strength, supporting me in my fights. He was always a hero for me, but a deceased one, sadly.

But that someone fought their very own battle only to bring us two together. They tricked me into thinking otherwise, but they were doing it for me from the very beginning. They didn't want to be noticed and tried their hardest to make it look coincidental, but that wouldn't have worked. ...Not in the long run, at least. They found Jii-chan all on their own, brought him to my side and made me happiest person in the world, for no personal reason and without expecting anything in return. And even made me forget that coincidences, indeed, don't exist.

And how did I return their efforts?

By not noticing them.

I was so dense and so worked up about meeting Jii-chan that I overlooked the reason why all of that was happening, and more importantly, I overlooked the _person_ who made it happen. I bet I hurt their feelings so much whenever I didn't see what was going on... And the moment I realised it, at the top of that tower, I hurt my own feelings too. Everything was so clear all of a sudden, and I... I... couldn't help it. I had to be sincere with myself. Or, rather, it was about time I actually paid attention to what I really felt; to what my own heart had been telling me all along even if I refused to listen.

I had to let myself accept that I had fallen in love with Natsumi. Long ago, actually, but I was too dense to even realise such a thing. I'm just... not good with anything beyond friendship, and I don't think I will ever be.  But ever since that day, she was the only thing I could think of during all those hours I spent at the top of that tower, and even while training with Tyre-chan, too. Just thinking about all the pain I made her go through for no reason made me feel like a horrible person, and I just wanted it to stop. I tried to avoid those thoughts, but I couldn't, so I tried to avoid her instead. I was too scared to face the fact that there might be something that I loved even more than soccer, and to ashamed of my own stupidty to face Natsumi ever again...

That's all I thought about while climbing down the tower. I was still frightened to death; even more so after remembering why I had been all that time, but I knew I couldn't avoid her forever. A man has to do what he has to do. A man must... well, man up. And it was about time I did so, or Jii-chan would have been so disappointed with me. Specially, since he had somehow been dropping hints at me about dating Natsumi, even if I was too dense again to take them. 'Ha ha ha, that's my son!' He used to say. I guess he wasn't good at these things when he was my age either.

The moment I touched the ground again, she turned around and looked at me.

“Endou-kun? Is that you?” She asked with a gentle smile on her lips, yet raising her voice quite a bit.

“He-heya, Natsumi-cha– I mean, Natsumi!” I replied, loudly and with a voice so shaky that I was surprised she could understand what I was saying at all.

“It's okay,” she giggled as she looked down and crossed her hands behind her back. “You can say it if you want. I don't mind it any more.”

She took a little step toward me; the tower and Tyre-chan seemed to be farer from each other than ever that day. I clumsily hurled myself toward her direction, but I stopped awkwardly midway to not make a fool of myself; which probably only made it worse, now that I think about it... She looked at me being a human mess with curious eyes, and I looked back at her. With the sunset at her back making her silhouette glow, and with such a sweet smile on her lips, she seemed holier than an angel. For Jii-chan's sake, I thought those eyes would be the end of me...!

I took a few more quick steps toward her in an attempt to recover my composure.

“W-what are you doing here?” I asked, trying my hardest to pull off a voice that wouldn't make it too obvious how terribly nervous I was.

“Nothing in particular,” she smiled, “I just felt like coming here to see the sunset. And I thought I might find you here training, but you were not anywhere around the tree. I should have thought you would be up there.”

“Yes, I was!  I heard someone pushing Tyre-chan while I wasn't looking, but I didn't recognise you at first sight. So, uh, was that you?”

I regretted those words even before I could finish the sentence. I could feel that something about it was just so wrong, but I didn't shut up. Gosh, they were right—I _never_ shut up.

“Tyre-chan?” She repeated slowly. She turned her eyes toward Tyre-chan, and her cheerful face vanished. “...Do you mean _that_ has a name?”

I jolted as soon as I heard her say those words with such a cold voice. It felt as if I had been hit by one of Fubuki's shots.

“Y-you see,” I stuttered. I was having a super hard time keeping my hands from wringing each other until they both run out of blood, so I rubbed the nape of my neck instead with one of them to keep it busy. It was definitely not a nice idea, but I couldn't think of anything better in the heat of the moment, “that tyre and I have been through so much and I have grown very fond of it, s-so I gave it a name long ago to keep it a bit closer to my heart, you know... A-and when I heard it swing from the tower, I thought–“

Natsumi cut me short with a deep sigh.

“So that was it... You came all the way down here because you thought someone was using your much beloved tyre, and nothing else. Am I mistaken?”

“N-NO!” I screamed with one of the girliest voices I have ever pulled off. “I-I mean, yes, you are wrong...! I actually, uh–”

“It's okay, Endou-kun. I understand what's important for you.”

She smiled a faint, sad smile and faced the sunset again. Her hair flowed along with the movement of her body, waving softly as she turned her head away from me.

That's when I realised it. As her bright red hair fluttered, I was blinded again, for an even longer time than before. When I managed to open my eyes again, I looked at the sunset across her, and I couldn't see a difference. The setting sun had turned into the same colour of her own hair. Both were so similar that one could reflect the other's light like a mirror.

As I said, coincidences don't exist.

I was given a chance. If it hadn't been for her, I would have thought Jii-chan was giving me a sign from somewhere above—now, I'm sure the Goddess of Victory herself was the one smiling upon me once again. It was a now-or-never moment; my only chance to win the hardest match of my life. And so far, I was screwing it up.

“N-Natsumi-chan!” I stammered as loudly as I could under those circumstances, fists clenched. She turned around.

“Yes?” She sounded really sad and disappointed. I was sad too, and even more nervous.

I gulped loudly as I felt my cheeks becoming redder and redder. I felt my hands sweaty as ever under my gloves, and Raimon's soccer uniform seemed tighter than ever around my neck. I breathed in about as loudly as I had gulped, shutting my eyes tight at the same time.

_“Look... You know I'm really bad at these things. I wish I could freely tell you everything I want you to know, but it's just so hard for me to put all those things into words..._

_“Ever since I was little, I have been communicating my feelings through soccer. When I was a kid and I played alone, it helped me understand myself, and my love for soccer grew day after day because it felt like I could talk to my deceased grandpa that way. It even felt like he was teaching me how to express myself with a ball. And when I met Fuyuppe and I finally found someone to share my feelings with for real, it felt like discovering a whole new world: I could speak through kicks, and people who loved soccer like me would understand what I meant to say. It's been like that ever since, and that's why I have never needed words. My friends, my teammates, never asked for a word as long as we had a ball to play with, and I ended up only using words for the sake of cheering them up. But talking about what_ I _feel never stopped being hard in spite of it..._

 _“I wish I could let you know without stuttering how grateful I am for everything you have done for the team, and specially for me. It was only after you got involved with Raimon that we finally gained the strength to try our best to win, and believe it or not, it's thanks to your trust that that we managed to reach the top of the Football Frontier. You stayed by our side, by_ my _side, when we had to face foes as dangerous as aliens, and you didn't complain even once. You were always there even when we could not see you, no matter what happened. You were even the key to our victory against Cotarl...! You just kept doing your best to become a better member of the team, to help me, and I didn't even stop to think why you were doing that. It was because you were there that we became who we are now, but it took me too long to understand something as important as that._

_“When I look back now, I can clearly see all your attempts to approach me, but I never realised it in due time. I treated you as friend, when you were trying your best to be something else and help me. But you didn't give up, and you kept trying your best for me. You even got to the point of going on a journey on your own to look for my grandpa, for no other reason than to reunite us and make me happy... You didn't have to, you didn't even tell me anything—you just did it. And it's really the best thing anyone could have ever done for me. But it was not just anyone. It was you. Again! It was you; it had always been you. And I just couldn't see it. I can't expect you will ever forgive me for being so blind and making you wait for so long, but I hope one day you will..._

_“What I mean to say is that I have been an idiot all this time. People keep calling me a 'legend' now, but I'm just the same dumb guy that I have always been, and I'm so sorry for that. You have been so important for me from the very beginning, but I never let you know. I treated you just like another friend, when you were much more from the start—when I think about it, I can now see that you were my own Goddess of Victory. But I was so dense that I never thought of you that way, because, well, it just didn't seem right... I thought you would feel that way too, but I was wrong. I didn't see all your efforts to change what I unconsciously tried to keep the same as always, because I'm a stupid soccer freak that can't see what's right in front of him._

_“I will never be able to pay you for everything you have done. I can't give you back all the time you spent trying to make me understand, nor apologise enough either for all the times you must have cursed me for being so dense. But... I see it now. And I see that no one has changed my life like you have, and no one will ever. The happiness from winning the FFI and becoming the captain of the best team in the world is nothing compared to the happiness you have brought me all on your own._

_“So, if you want... If you ever wanted it at all, or if you still want it... You... I... I would be the happiest person in the world if you agreed to be my... g-girlfriend!!”_

Ah, yes. Saying something along those lines would have been pretty nice, wouldn't it. And it's what I was thinking at that very moment, I swear! I was about to let it all out once and for all, like I had being daydreaming of doing every single day at the top of the Steel Tower.

But, instead, I just bowed as far as I could and screamed:

“PLEASE MARRY ME!!”

I regretted it the next instant. I called myself a fool more times than I can count, but it was too late. So I stayed like that, not breathing a word, and after what seemed like hours but was probably not even a minute, I looked up.

Natsumi's face was slowly turning as red as I would have expected that day's sunset to be. She seemed as shocked as ever when I looked at her after my proposal, but as her cheeks changed colour, her expression changed too. She went from deadpan, to surprised, to extremely angry.

“…Idiot!!” She shouted at me with her eyes closed tight, which made me stand up right away. She kept a pouty face for a few seconds before she continued. “T-that's not what you were supposed to say, you dork! You...” Natsumi seemed so frustrated, as if I had stolen something really precious from her. “You were supposed to ask me out first! Do you have any idea of how long I have waited for you to notice what was going on!? And now you come and take that pleasure away from me! First we date, we spend time together, we... b-become a couple, and then, in the future, when we are adults, you propose to me! That's how it works, you... you... idiot!!”

I pursed my lips tight and kept my eyes closed as she scolded me; it was like having a fan going at full force in my face. When she finally finished, she was totally out of breath, and I would have sworn her cheeks were twice as red as before.

“...So,” I asked in a thin voice, “i-is that a no?”

She stood there for a few seconds, giving me an awkward and frowny look as she struggled to get her breath back. Finally, she gracefully straightened her back and coughed on her hand, with a much lighter blush still on her cheeks. To be honest, In spite of the telling-off, I thought that she had never looked prettier than what she looked at that exact moment.

“...I didn't say that,” she replied curtly, as if she were trying to pull a cool act. “Although there's one condition.”

“W-what?” I hurried to ask.

“If I'm going to be your...” She decided to play with her scarf for a long while before continuing, and for the sake of saving my life, I decided it wasn't a good idea to say a word either. “...girlfriend, you _must_ treat me better than you treat... that.” She pointed at Tyre-chan.

“O-of course!!” I shouted. “You are the only one for me, Natsumi-chan! I... I love you!!”

“Geez, do you _always_ have to overdo these things?! Couples don't tend to say that right away, you know!” She tried to force a pout, but it was obvious from her growing blush that she was struggling to keep herself from smiling. She swiftly approached me and held my hand. It surprised me, but I thought she would want me to hold her hand back, so I did. ...Kind of.

“...Does that mean you don't feel the same way?” I think I squeezed her hand a bit too hard there, but she didn't seem to complain about it. In fact, I couldn't quite tell because of the gloves and the fact that my hands are nothing but two big calluses, but I would have sworn that she squeezed me back at that point, perhaps even a bit tighter than I did.

“I... didn't say that.”

Everything was finally over. It had been an amazing year, but a very long one too. And even if a few months ago I wouldn't have wanted it to end, at the end of that summer, I was finally ready to move on. Every story must come to an end so new ones can take the lead, and, man, was I excited to see what was yet to come!

“Natsumi-chan.”

“Yes?”

“Let's play soccer!”

“Don't be ridiculous... Mamoru-kun.”

...There was still a long way to go, indeed. But at least I was certain that I wouldn't be walking that path alone anymore.


End file.
